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Ellerslie International Flower Show
Hagley Park, Christchurch, New Zealand
11-15 March 2009
SHOW REVIEW
by Ruth Chapman and Helen Williams
The success of the Ellerslie Flower Show in Christchurch seems assured after the inaugural show in March. The quality of the gardens and exhibits was exceptionally high - as shown by the four Exhibition Garden golds awarded by the judges - and the response of the public was phenomenal with 75,000 visitors. In fact any quibbles about the organisation were largely the result of under-estimating the numbers who would attend.
The themes for 2009:
- Sustainability is it. There were edible gardens, gardens demonstrating composting, rain harvesting, permeable pathways, gabion rock baskets as retaining walls, gardens about the importance of bees, demonstrations of worm farms and pest control, no-mow lawns.
- Natives are in. The plant of the show was twiggy, bouncy muehlenbeckia astonii and many exhibits used other divaricating natives. There were native grasses and groundcovers and plenty of cordylines (cabbage tress), lancewoods, ake ake and astelias.
- Favourite exotics: lots of edibles and autumn-flowering plants. Some delightful dahlias and scabiosa. (Only one exhibition garden and the Canterbury Rose Society used roses.)
- Restrained colour palettes with lots of dark colours, reds and greens.
The gardens
The judges have their own criteria, including the "wow factor". We decided our top five according to whether they had a strong concept or theme which was well articulated, with a consistent implementation and an overall result which was pleasing to the eye. And probably we had a bias towards planted gardens rather than solely design gardens.
Take Five designed by Carl Pickens. This garden had a strong theme of sustainability with rain harvesting, lots of natives and a coherent design. It was beautifully realised with a great feeling of tranquillity.
Inner Sanctuary designed by Suzie le Cren, had an eye-catching design with its centre hip bath and a simple colour scheme with red, white and green, the red anigozanthus (kangaroo paws) beautifully picking up the red of the bath and the fence. This was a garden with a strong design and also some detailed take-home ideas like the wonderful scabiosa "Black Knight" and the groundcover parahebe.
I See Red was painting with plants. This garden was designed by Alan Trott, Sir Miles Warren, Pauline Trengrove and Marilyn McCrae. The theme was well sustained, the plant range was eclectic and fascinating, the planting had a strong three-dimensional sense and there was real energy in this garden. A mesmerising feature was the (red) kinetic sculpture lazily turning in ever changing formations.
A Taste of Tomorrow Designed by Rob Watson this was the garden of the Canterbury Horticultural Society and it had a mouth-watering abundance of edible plants with a theme of sustainability. The olive trees anchored the design giving it a feel of permanence and it went beyond a simple potager concept.
Backyard Retreat with its striking elliptical gazebo and structured plantings. We liked the use of succulents, and the dark timber furniture and decking which all combined to create a restful, tropical atmosphere. Also being near a main entrance may have helped this garden to win the People's Award.
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Edibles on display in the Terra Viva garden
Trade stands were popular, especially the gold award Company Shed
Take Five by Carl Pickens
Inner Sanctuary, designed by Suzie le Cren
I See Red
A Taste of Tomorrow, the Canterbury Horticultural Society |
Texture Plants and Outer Landscape's Backyard Retreat - a visitors' favourite |
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